When powered on, computer server systems can be readily managed from remote locations. However, oftentimes a computer server system requires powering off and powering back on such as when new software has been loaded, for example. Current remote server management systems do not provide the capability of powering down a computer server system from a remote location. An information technology support person has to physically switch off the computer server system and then switch it back on. Moreover, the typical keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) remote operating technology samples an analog video signal to acquire video frames of the video monitor and then daisy chains the analog video signal to a video monitor using expensive external KVM cables. Constantly sampling the analog video signal with an analog to digital converter wastes power. Additionally with a plurality servers in a server farm, a plurality of external KVM cables may be employed which is expensive and may cause considerable cable clutter around the back of the server farm.
Moreover, the typical keyboard-video-mouse (KVM) remote operating technology is not well integrated, utilizing an extra graphics controller with its own frame buffer memory to transfer each frame of video data to a remote monitor. The extra graphics controller and frame buffer memory uses additional power and is an added cost to the server system. The additional power consumption and costs may quickly add up when a plurality of servers are installed in a server farm.
Additionally, operating, administering, and maintaining a server system can be a significant cost of the total cost of ownership of a server system that is desirable to reduce.